Ray compression for efficient processing of graphics data at computing devices

ABSTRACT

A mechanism is described for facilitating ray compression for efficient graphics data processing at computing devices. A method of embodiments, as described herein, includes forwarding a set of rays to a ray compression unit hosted by a graphics processor at a computing device, and facilitating the ray compression unit to compress the set of rays, wherein the set of rays are compressed into a compressed representation.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of and claims the benefit ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/046,107, filed on Feb. 17, 2016 andentitled “RAY COMPRESSION FOR EFFICIENT PROCESSING OF GRAPHICS DATA ATCOMPUTING DEVICES”, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein generally relate to computers. Moreparticularly, embodiments are described for facilitating ray compressionfor efficient processing of graphics data at computing devices.

BACKGROUND

Reducing memory bandwidth is of utmost importance, such as whendesigning a graphics architecture, as energy efficiency is a performancefactor that weighs most heavily in hardware design. For example,transactions over memory buses may cost several orders of magnitude morethan computation in terms of energy and latency. Hence, it is common toattempt to reduce bandwidth usage at the expense of more computationsand thus reducing power consumption and/or increasing overallperformance. This serves as a motivation behind buffer compressionalgorithms, commonly found in a graphics processing unit (“GPU” or“graphics processor”).

For example, ray tracing is becoming increasingly important in today'srasterization-based central processing unit (“CPU” or “applicationprocessor”) for complementing rasterization in achieving variousgraphics processing-related tasks, such as generating pixel-exactshadows. Hence, compressions of all sorts are regarded as important incontinuously achieving better performance in graphics processors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and not by way oflimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereference numerals refer to similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a processing system, according to anembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a processor having one ormore processor cores, an integrated memory controller, and an integratedgraphics processor.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a graphics processor, which may be adiscrete graphics processing unit, or may be a graphics processorintegrated with a plurality of processing cores.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a graphics processing engine of a graphicsprocessor in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a graphics processor.

FIG. 6 illustrates thread execution logic including an array ofprocessing elements employed in some embodiments of a graphicsprocessing engine.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a graphics processor instructionformats according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a graphics processor.

FIG. 9A is a block diagram illustrating a graphics processor commandformat according to an embodiment and FIG. 9B is a block diagramillustrating a graphics processor command sequence according to anembodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary graphics software architecture for a dataprocessing system according to some embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an IP core development systemthat may be used to manufacture an integrated circuit to performoperations according to an embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system on a chipintegrated circuit that may be fabricated using one or more IP cores,according to an embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates a computing device employing a ray compressionmechanism according to one embodiment.

FIG. 14A illustrates a ray compression mechanism according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 14B illustrates a ray compression architectural placement accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates rays originating from origin and reflecting off ofsurfaces according to one embodiment.

FIG. 16 illustrates a method for facilitating ray compression accordingto one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth.However, embodiments, as described herein, may be practiced withoutthese specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits,structures and techniques have not been shown in details in order not toobscure the understanding of this description.

Embodiments provide for compressions of batches of rays for efficientprocessing of graphics data at computing devices. As previouslymentioned, compression of all sorts may be regarded as important forsuperior performance in current graphics processors, such as with regardto efficient implementation of ray tracking in hardware. Further, forexample, with regard to rasterization, ray tracing may serve tocomplement rasterization to be used to perform one or more graphicsprocessing-related tasks, such as generating pixel-exact shadows,accurate reflection, ambient occlusion, probe-based global illumination,and soft shadow, etc.

Embodiments provide for streaming rays through a ray compressor unit, asfacilitated by a ray compression mechanism, so that the rays may becompressed based on one or more coherency factors, such as one or moreof ray origin, ray direction, ray quality, ray type, etc. In oneembodiment, when a given compression budget (e.g., 1024 bytes) isreached, a compressed representation of the compressed rays is generatedand then locally or remotely stored or transferred to where it might beneeded for further processing.

It is contemplated that terms like “request”, “query”, “job”, “work”,“work item”, and “workload” may be referenced interchangeably throughoutthis document. Similarly, an “application” or “agent” may refer to orinclude a computer program, a software application, a game, aworkstation application, etc., offered through an API, such as a freerendering API, such as Open Graphics Library (OpenGL®), DirectX® 11,DirectX® 12, etc., where “dispatch” may be interchangeably referred toas “work unit” or “draw” and similarly, “application” may beinterchangeably referred to as “workflow” or simply “agent”. Forexample, a workload, such as that of a 3D game, may include and issueany number and type of “frames” where each frame may represent an image(e.g., sailboat, human face). Further, each frame may include and offerany number and type of work units, where each work unit may represent apart (e.g., mast of sailboat, forehead of human face) of the image(e.g., sailboat, human face) represented by its corresponding frame.However, for the sake of consistency, each item may be referenced by asingle term (e.g., “dispatch”, “agent”, etc.) throughout this document.

In some embodiments, terms like “display screen” and “display surface”may be used interchangeably referring to the visible portion of adisplay device while the rest of the display device may be embedded intoa computing device, such as a smartphone, a wearable device, etc. It iscontemplated and to be noted that embodiments are not limited to anyparticular computing device, software application, hardware component,display device, display screen or surface, protocol, standard, etc. Forexample, embodiments may be applied to and used with any number and typeof real-time applications on any number and type of computers, such asdesktops, laptops, tablet computers, smartphones, head-mounted displaysand other wearable devices, and/or the like. Further, for example,rendering scenarios for efficient performance using this novel techniquemay range from simple scenarios, such as desktop compositing, to complexscenarios, such as 3D games, augmented reality applications, etc.

System Overview

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a processing system 100, according to anembodiment. In various embodiments the system 100 includes one or moreprocessors 102 and one or more graphics processors 108, and may be asingle processor desktop system, a multiprocessor workstation system, ora server system having a large number of processors 102 or processorcores 107. In on embodiment, the system 100 is a processing platformincorporated within a system-on-a-chip (SoC) integrated circuit for usein mobile, handheld, or embedded devices.

An embodiment of system 100 can include, or be incorporated within aserver-based gaming platform, a game console, including a game and mediaconsole, a mobile gaming console, a handheld game console, or an onlinegame console. In some embodiments system 100 is a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet computing device or mobile Internet device. Dataprocessing system 100 can also include, couple with, or be integratedwithin a wearable device, such as a smart watch wearable device, smarteyewear device, augmented reality device, or virtual reality device. Insome embodiments, data processing system 100 is a television or set topbox device having one or more processors 102 and a graphical interfacegenerated by one or more graphics processors 108.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors 102 each include one ormore processor cores 107 to process instructions which, when executed,perform operations for system and user software. In some embodiments,each of the one or more processor cores 107 is configured to process aspecific instruction set 109. In some embodiments, instruction set 109may facilitate Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC), ReducedInstruction Set Computing (RISC), or computing via a Very LongInstruction Word (VLIW). Multiple processor cores 107 may each process adifferent instruction set 109, which may include instructions tofacilitate the emulation of other instruction sets. Processor core 107may also include other processing devices, such a Digital SignalProcessor (DSP).

In some embodiments, the processor 102 includes cache memory 104.Depending on the architecture, the processor 102 can have a singleinternal cache or multiple levels of internal cache. In someembodiments, the cache memory is shared among various components of theprocessor 102. In some embodiments, the processor 102 also uses anexternal cache (e.g., a Level-3 (L3) cache or Last Level Cache (LLC))(not shown), which may be shared among processor cores 107 using knowncache coherency techniques. A register file 106 is additionally includedin processor 102 which may include different types of registers forstoring different types of data (e.g., integer registers, floating pointregisters, status registers, and an instruction pointer register). Someregisters may be general-purpose registers, while other registers may bespecific to the design of the processor 102.

In some embodiments, processor 102 is coupled to a processor bus 110 totransmit communication signals such as address, data, or control signalsbetween processor 102 and other components in system 100. In oneembodiment the system 100 uses an exemplary ‘hub’ system architecture,including a memory controller hub 116 and an Input Output (I/O)controller hub 130. A memory controller hub 116 facilitatescommunication between a memory device and other components of system100, while an I/O Controller Hub (ICH) 130 provides connections to I/Odevices via a local I/O bus. In one embodiment, the logic of the memorycontroller hub 116 is integrated within the processor.

Memory device 120 can be a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device, astatic random access memory (SRAM) device, flash memory device,phase-change memory device, or some other memory device having suitableperformance to serve as process memory. In one embodiment the memorydevice 120 can operate as system memory for the system 100, to storedata 122 and instructions 121 for use when the one or more processors102 executes an application or process. Memory controller hub 116 alsocouples with an optional external graphics processor 112, which maycommunicate with the one or more graphics processors 108 in processors102 to perform graphics and media operations.

In some embodiments, ICH 130 enables peripherals to connect to memorydevice 120 and processor 102 via a high-speed I/O bus. The I/Operipherals include, but are not limited to, an audio controller 146, afirmware interface 128, a wireless transceiver 126 (e.g., Wi-Fi,Bluetooth), a data storage device 124 (e.g., hard disk drive, flashmemory, etc.), and a legacy I/O controller 140 for coupling legacy(e.g., Personal System 2 (PS/2)) devices to the system. One or moreUniversal Serial Bus (USB) controllers 142 connect input devices, suchas keyboard and mouse 144 combinations. A network controller 134 mayalso couple to ICH 130. In some embodiments, a high-performance networkcontroller (not shown) couples to processor bus 110. It will beappreciated that the system 100 shown is exemplary and not limiting, asother types of data processing systems that are differently configuredmay also be used. For example, the I/O controller hub 130 may beintegrated within the one or more processor 102, or the memorycontroller hub 116 and I/O controller hub 130 may be integrated into adiscreet external graphics processor, such as the external graphicsprocessor 112.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a processor 200 having oneor more processor cores 202A-202N, an integrated memory controller 214,and an integrated graphics processor 208. Those elements of FIG. 2having the same reference numbers (or names) as the elements of anyother figure herein can operate or function in any manner similar tothat described elsewhere herein, but are not limited to such. Processor200 can include additional cores up to and including additional core202N represented by the dashed lined boxes. Each of processor cores202A-202N includes one or more internal cache units 204A-204N. In someembodiments each processor core also has access to one or more sharedcached units 206.

The internal cache units 204A-204N and shared cache units 206 representa cache memory hierarchy within the processor 200. The cache memoryhierarchy may include at least one level of instruction and data cachewithin each processor core and one or more levels of shared mid-levelcache, such as a Level 2 (L2), Level 3 (L3), Level 4 (L4), or otherlevels of cache, where the highest level of cache before external memoryis classified as the LLC. In some embodiments, cache coherency logicmaintains coherency between the various cache units 206 and 204A-204N.

In some embodiments, processor 200 may also include a set of one or morebus controller units 216 and a system agent core 210. The one or morebus controller units 216 manage a set of peripheral buses, such as oneor more Peripheral Component Interconnect buses (e.g., PCI, PCIExpress). System agent core 210 provides management functionality forthe various processor components. In some embodiments, system agent core210 includes one or more integrated memory controllers 214 to manageaccess to various external memory devices (not shown).

In some embodiments, one or more of the processor cores 202A-202Ninclude support for simultaneous multi-threading. In such embodiment,the system agent core 210 includes components for coordinating andoperating cores 202A-202N during multi-threaded processing. System agentcore 210 may additionally include a power control unit (PCU), whichincludes logic and components to regulate the power state of processorcores 202A-202N and graphics processor 208.

In some embodiments, processor 200 additionally includes graphicsprocessor 208 to execute graphics processing operations. In someembodiments, the graphics processor 208 couples with the set of sharedcache units 206, and the system agent core 210, including the one ormore integrated memory controllers 214. In some embodiments, a displaycontroller 211 is coupled with the graphics processor 208 to drivegraphics processor output to one or more coupled displays. In someembodiments, display controller 211 may be a separate module coupledwith the graphics processor via at least one interconnect, or may beintegrated within the graphics processor 208 or system agent core 210.

In some embodiments, a ring based interconnect unit 212 is used tocouple the internal components of the processor 200. However, analternative interconnect unit may be used, such as a point-to-pointinterconnect, a switched interconnect, or other techniques, includingtechniques well known in the art. In some embodiments, graphicsprocessor 208 couples with the ring interconnect 212 via an I/O link213.

The exemplary I/O link 213 represents at least one of multiple varietiesof I/O interconnects, including an on package I/O interconnect whichfacilitates communication between various processor components and ahigh-performance embedded memory module 218, such as an eDRAM module. Insome embodiments, each of the processor cores 202-202N and graphicsprocessor 208 use embedded memory modules 218 as a shared Last LevelCache.

In some embodiments, processor cores 202A-202N are homogenous coresexecuting the same instruction set architecture. In another embodiment,processor cores 202A-202N are heterogeneous in terms of instruction setarchitecture (ISA), where one or more of processor cores 202A-N executea first instruction set, while at least one of the other cores executesa subset of the first instruction set or a different instruction set. Inone embodiment processor cores 202A-202N are heterogeneous in terms ofmicroarchitecture, where one or more cores having a relatively higherpower consumption couple with one or more power cores having a lowerpower consumption. Additionally, processor 200 can be implemented on oneor more chips or as an SoC integrated circuit having the illustratedcomponents, in addition to other components.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a graphics processor 300, which may be adiscrete graphics processing unit, or may be a graphics processorintegrated with a plurality of processing cores. In some embodiments,the graphics processor communicates via a memory mapped I/O interface toregisters on the graphics processor and with commands placed into theprocessor memory. In some embodiments, graphics processor 300 includes amemory interface 314 to access memory. Memory interface 314 can be aninterface to local memory, one or more internal caches, one or moreshared external caches, and/or to system memory.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 300 also includes a displaycontroller 302 to drive display output data to a display device 320.Display controller 302 includes hardware for one or more overlay planesfor the display and composition of multiple layers of video or userinterface elements. In some embodiments, graphics processor 300 includesa video codec engine 306 to encode, decode, or transcode media to, from,or between one or more media encoding formats, including, but notlimited to Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) formats such as MPEG-2,Advanced Video Coding (AVC) formats such as H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, as well asthe Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) 421M/VC-1,and Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) formats such as JPEG, andMotion JPEG (MJPEG) formats.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 300 includes a block imagetransfer (BLIT) engine 304 to perform two-dimensional (2D) rasterizeroperations including, for example, bit-boundary block transfers.However, in one embodiment, 2D graphics operations are performed usingone or more components of graphics processing engine (GPE) 310. In someembodiments, graphics processing engine 310 is a compute engine forperforming graphics operations, including three-dimensional (3D)graphics operations and media operations.

In some embodiments, GPE 310 includes a 3D pipeline 312 for performing3D operations, such as rendering three-dimensional images and scenesusing processing functions that act upon 3D primitive shapes (e.g.,rectangle, triangle, etc.). The 3D pipeline 312 includes programmableand fixed function elements that perform various tasks within theelement and/or spawn execution threads to a 3D/Media sub-system 315.While 3D pipeline 312 can be used to perform media operations, anembodiment of GPE 310 also includes a media pipeline 316 that isspecifically used to perform media operations, such as videopost-processing and image enhancement.

In some embodiments, media pipeline 316 includes fixed function orprogrammable logic units to perform one or more specialized mediaoperations, such as video decode acceleration, video de-interlacing, andvideo encode acceleration in place of, or on behalf of video codecengine 306. In some embodiments, media pipeline 316 additionallyincludes a thread spawning unit to spawn threads for execution on3D/Media sub-system 315. The spawned threads perform computations forthe media operations on one or more graphics execution units included in3D/Media sub-system 315.

In some embodiments, 3D/Media subsystem 315 includes logic for executingthreads spawned by 3D pipeline 312 and media pipeline 316. In oneembodiment, the pipelines send thread execution requests to 3D/Mediasubsystem 315, which includes thread dispatch logic for arbitrating anddispatching the various requests to available thread executionresources. The execution resources include an array of graphicsexecution units to process the 3D and media threads. In someembodiments, 3D/Media subsystem 315 includes one or more internal cachesfor thread instructions and data. In some embodiments, the subsystemalso includes shared memory, including registers and addressable memory,to share data between threads and to store output data.

3D/Media Processing

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a graphics processing engine 410 of agraphics processor in accordance with some embodiments. In oneembodiment, the GPE 410 is a version of the GPE 310 shown in FIG. 3.Elements of FIG. 4 having the same reference numbers (or names) as theelements of any other figure herein can operate or function in anymanner similar to that described elsewhere herein, but are not limitedto such.

In some embodiments, GPE 410 couples with a command streamer 403, whichprovides a command stream to the GPE 3D and media pipelines 412, 416. Insome embodiments, command streamer 403 is coupled to memory, which canbe system memory, or one or more of internal cache memory and sharedcache memory. In some embodiments, command streamer 403 receivescommands from the memory and sends the commands to 3D pipeline 412and/or media pipeline 416. The commands are directives fetched from aring buffer, which stores commands for the 3D and media pipelines 412,416. In one embodiment, the ring buffer can additionally include batchcommand buffers storing batches of multiple commands. The 3D and mediapipelines 412, 416 process the commands by performing operations vialogic within the respective pipelines or by dispatching one or moreexecution threads to an execution unit array 414. In some embodiments,execution unit array 414 is scalable, such that the array includes avariable number of execution units based on the target power andperformance level of GPE 410.

In some embodiments, a sampling engine 430 couples with memory (e.g.,cache memory or system memory) and execution unit array 414. In someembodiments, sampling engine 430 provides a memory access mechanism forexecution unit array 414 that allows execution array 414 to readgraphics and media data from memory. In some embodiments, samplingengine 430 includes logic to perform specialized image samplingoperations for media.

In some embodiments, the specialized media sampling logic in samplingengine 430 includes a de-noise/de-interlace module 432, a motionestimation module 434, and an image scaling and filtering module 436. Insome embodiments, de-noise/de-interlace module 432 includes logic toperform one or more of a de-noise or a de-interlace algorithm on decodedvideo data. The de-interlace logic combines alternating fields ofinterlaced video content into a single fame of video. The de-noise logicreduces or removes data noise from video and image data. In someembodiments, the de-noise logic and de-interlace logic are motionadaptive and use spatial or temporal filtering based on the amount ofmotion detected in the video data. In some embodiments, thede-noise/de-interlace module 432 includes dedicated motion detectionlogic (e.g., within the motion estimation engine 434).

In some embodiments, motion estimation engine 434 provides hardwareacceleration for video operations by performing video accelerationfunctions such as motion vector estimation and prediction on video data.The motion estimation engine determines motion vectors that describe thetransformation of image data between successive video frames. In someembodiments, a graphics processor media codec uses video motionestimation engine 434 to perform operations on video at the macro-blocklevel that may otherwise be too computationally intensive to performwith a general-purpose processor. In some embodiments, motion estimationengine 434 is generally available to graphics processor components toassist with video decode and processing functions that are sensitive oradaptive to the direction or magnitude of the motion within video data.

In some embodiments, image scaling and filtering module 436 performsimage-processing operations to enhance the visual quality of generatedimages and video. In some embodiments, scaling and filtering module 436processes image and video data during the sampling operation beforeproviding the data to execution unit array 414.

In some embodiments, the GPE 410 includes a data port 444, whichprovides an additional mechanism for graphics subsystems to accessmemory. In some embodiments, data port 444 facilitates memory access foroperations including render target writes, constant buffer reads,scratch memory space reads/writes, and media surface accesses. In someembodiments, data port 444 includes cache memory space to cache accessesto memory. The cache memory can be a single data cache or separated intomultiple caches for the multiple subsystems that access memory via thedata port (e.g., a render buffer cache, a constant buffer cache, etc.).In some embodiments, threads executing on an execution unit in executionunit array 414 communicate with the data port by exchanging messages viaa data distribution interconnect that couples each of the sub-systems ofGPE 410.

Execution Units

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a graphics processor500. Elements of FIG. 5 having the same reference numbers (or names) asthe elements of any other figure herein can operate or function in anymanner similar to that described elsewhere herein, but are not limitedto such.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 500 includes a ring interconnect502, a pipeline front-end 504, a media engine 537, and graphics cores580A-580N. In some embodiments, ring interconnect 502 couples thegraphics processor to other processing units, including other graphicsprocessors or one or more general-purpose processor cores. In someembodiments, the graphics processor is one of many processors integratedwithin a multi-core processing system.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 500 receives batches of commandsvia ring interconnect 502. The incoming commands are interpreted by acommand streamer 503 in the pipeline front-end 504. In some embodiments,graphics processor 500 includes scalable execution logic to perform 3Dgeometry processing and media processing via the graphics core(s)580A-580N. For 3D geometry processing commands, command streamer 503supplies commands to geometry pipeline 536. For at least some mediaprocessing commands, command streamer 503 supplies the commands to avideo front end 534, which couples with a media engine 537. In someembodiments, media engine 537 includes a Video Quality Engine (VQE) 530for video and image post-processing and a multi-format encode/decode(MFX) 533 engine to provide hardware-accelerated media data encode anddecode. In some embodiments, geometry pipeline 536 and media engine 537each generate execution threads for the thread execution resourcesprovided by at least one graphics core 580A.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 500 includes scalable threadexecution resources featuring modular cores 580A-580N (sometimesreferred to as core slices), each having multiple sub-cores 550A-550N,560A-560N (sometimes referred to as core sub-slices). In someembodiments, graphics processor 500 can have any number of graphicscores 580A through 580N. In some embodiments, graphics processor 500includes a graphics core 580A having at least a first sub-core 550A anda second core sub-core 560A. In other embodiments, the graphicsprocessor is a low power processor with a single sub-core (e.g., 550A).In some embodiments, graphics processor 500 includes multiple graphicscores 580A-580N, each including a set of first sub-cores 550A-550N and aset of second sub-cores 560A-560N. Each sub-core in the set of firstsub-cores 550A-550N includes at least a first set of execution units552A-552N and media/texture samplers 554A-554N. Each sub-core in the setof second sub-cores 560A-560N includes at least a second set ofexecution units 562A-562N and samplers 564A-564N. In some embodiments,each sub-core 550A-550N, 560A-560N shares a set of shared resources570A-570N. In some embodiments, the shared resources include sharedcache memory and pixel operation logic. Other shared resources may alsobe included in the various embodiments of the graphics processor.

FIG. 6 illustrates thread execution logic 600 including an array ofprocessing elements employed in some embodiments of a GPE. Elements ofFIG. 6 having the same reference numbers (or names) as the elements ofany other figure herein can operate or function in any manner similar tothat described elsewhere herein, but are not limited to such.

In some embodiments, thread execution logic 600 includes a pixel shader602, a thread dispatcher 604, instruction cache 606, a scalableexecution unit array including a plurality of execution units 608A-608N,a sampler 610, a data cache 612, and a data port 614. In one embodimentthe included components are interconnected via an interconnect fabricthat links to each of the components. In some embodiments, threadexecution logic 600 includes one or more connections to memory, such assystem memory or cache memory, through one or more of instruction cache606, data port 614, sampler 610, and execution unit array 608A-608N. Insome embodiments, each execution unit (e.g. 608A) is an individualvector processor capable of executing multiple simultaneous threads andprocessing multiple data elements in parallel for each thread. In someembodiments, execution unit array 608A-608N includes any numberindividual execution units.

In some embodiments, execution unit array 608A-608N is primarily used toexecute “shader” programs. In some embodiments, the execution units inarray 608A-608N execute an instruction set that includes native supportfor many standard 3D graphics shader instructions, such that shaderprograms from graphics libraries (e.g., Direct 3D and OpenGL) areexecuted with a minimal translation. The execution units support vertexand geometry processing (e.g., vertex programs, geometry programs,vertex shaders), pixel processing (e.g., pixel shaders, fragmentshaders) and general-purpose processing (e.g., compute and mediashaders).

Each execution unit in execution unit array 608A-608N operates on arraysof data elements. The number of data elements is the “execution size,”or the number of channels for the instruction. An execution channel is alogical unit of execution for data element access, masking, and flowcontrol within instructions. The number of channels may be independentof the number of physical Arithmetic Logic Units (ALUs) or FloatingPoint Units (FPUs) for a particular graphics processor. In someembodiments, execution units 608A-608N support integer andfloating-point data types.

The execution unit instruction set includes single instruction multipledata (SIMD) instructions. The various data elements can be stored as apacked data type in a register and the execution unit will process thevarious elements based on the data size of the elements. For example,when operating on a 256-bit wide vector, the 256 bits of the vector arestored in a register and the execution unit operates on the vector asfour separate 64-bit packed data elements (Quad-Word (QW) size dataelements), eight separate 32-bit packed data elements (Double Word (DW)size data elements), sixteen separate 16-bit packed data elements (Word(W) size data elements), or thirty-two separate 8-bit data elements(byte (B) size data elements). However, different vector widths andregister sizes are possible.

One or more internal instruction caches (e.g., 606) are included in thethread execution logic 600 to cache thread instructions for theexecution units. In some embodiments, one or more data caches (e.g.,612) are included to cache thread data during thread execution. In someembodiments, sampler 610 is included to provide texture sampling for 3Doperations and media sampling for media operations. In some embodiments,sampler 610 includes specialized texture or media sampling functionalityto process texture or media data during the sampling process beforeproviding the sampled data to an execution unit.

During execution, the graphics and media pipelines send threadinitiation requests to thread execution logic 600 via thread spawningand dispatch logic. In some embodiments, thread execution logic 600includes a local thread dispatcher 604 that arbitrates thread initiationrequests from the graphics and media pipelines and instantiates therequested threads on one or more execution units 608A-608N. For example,the geometry pipeline (e.g., 536 of FIG. 5) dispatches vertexprocessing, tessellation, or geometry processing threads to threadexecution logic 600 (FIG. 6). In some embodiments, thread dispatcher 604can also process runtime thread spawning requests from the executingshader programs.

Once a group of geometric objects has been processed and rasterized intopixel data, pixel shader 602 is invoked to further compute outputinformation and cause results to be written to output surfaces (e.g.,color buffers, depth buffers, stencil buffers, etc.). In someembodiments, pixel shader 602 calculates the values of the variousvertex attributes that are to be interpolated across the rasterizedobject. In some embodiments, pixel shader 602 then executes anapplication programming interface (API)-supplied pixel shader program.To execute the pixel shader program, pixel shader 602 dispatches threadsto an execution unit (e.g., 608A) via thread dispatcher 604. In someembodiments, pixel shader 602 uses texture sampling logic in sampler 610to access texture data in texture maps stored in memory. Arithmeticoperations on the texture data and the input geometry data compute pixelcolor data for each geometric fragment, or discards one or more pixelsfrom further processing.

In some embodiments, the data port 614 provides a memory accessmechanism for the thread execution logic 600 output processed data tomemory for processing on a graphics processor output pipeline. In someembodiments, the data port 614 includes or couples to one or more cachememories (e.g., data cache 612) to cache data for memory access via thedata port.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a graphics processor instructionformats 700 according to some embodiments. In one or more embodiment,the graphics processor execution units support an instruction set havinginstructions in multiple formats. The solid lined boxes illustrate thecomponents that are generally included in an execution unit instruction,while the dashed lines include components that are optional or that areonly included in a sub-set of the instructions. In some embodiments,instruction format 700 described and illustrated are macro-instructions,in that they are instructions supplied to the execution unit, as opposedto micro-operations resulting from instruction decode once theinstruction is processed.

In some embodiments, the graphics processor execution units nativelysupport instructions in a 128-bit format 710. A 64-bit compactedinstruction format 730 is available for some instructions based on theselected instruction, instruction options, and number of operands. Thenative 128-bit format 710 provides access to all instruction options,while some options and operations are restricted in the 64-bit format730. The native instructions available in the 64-bit format 730 vary byembodiment. In some embodiments, the instruction is compacted in partusing a set of index values in an index field 713. The execution unithardware references a set of compaction tables based on the index valuesand uses the compaction table outputs to reconstruct a nativeinstruction in the 128-bit format 710.

For each format, instruction opcode 712 defines the operation that theexecution unit is to perform. The execution units execute eachinstruction in parallel across the multiple data elements of eachoperand. For example, in response to an add instruction the executionunit performs a simultaneous add operation across each color channelrepresenting a texture element or picture element. By default, theexecution unit performs each instruction across all data channels of theoperands. In some embodiments, instruction control field 714 enablescontrol over certain execution options, such as channels selection(e.g., predication) and data channel order (e.g., swizzle). For 128-bitinstructions 710 an exec-size field 716 limits the number of datachannels that will be executed in parallel. In some embodiments,exec-size field 716 is not available for use in the 64-bit compactinstruction format 730.

Some execution unit instructions have up to three operands including twosource operands, src0 722, src1 722, and one destination 718. In someembodiments, the execution units support dual destination instructions,where one of the destinations is implied. Data manipulation instructionscan have a third source operand (e.g., SRC2 724), where the instructionopcode 712 determines the number of source operands. An instruction'slast source operand can be an immediate (e.g., hard-coded) value passedwith the instruction.

In some embodiments, the 128-bit instruction format 710 includes anaccess/address mode information 726 specifying, for example, whetherdirect register addressing mode or indirect register addressing mode isused. When direct register addressing mode is used, the register addressof one or more operands is directly provided by bits in the instruction710.

In some embodiments, the 128-bit instruction format 710 includes anaccess/address mode field 726, which specifies an address mode and/or anaccess mode for the instruction. In one embodiment the access mode todefine a data access alignment for the instruction. Some embodimentssupport access modes including a 16-byte aligned access mode and a1-byte aligned access mode, where the byte alignment of the access modedetermines the access alignment of the instruction operands. Forexample, when in a first mode, the instruction 710 may use byte-alignedaddressing for source and destination operands and when in a secondmode, the instruction 710 may use 16-byte-aligned addressing for allsource and destination operands.

In one embodiment, the address mode portion of the access/address modefield 726 determines whether the instruction is to use direct orindirect addressing. When direct register addressing mode is used bitsin the instruction 710 directly provide the register address of one ormore operands. When indirect register addressing mode is used, theregister address of one or more operands may be computed based on anaddress register value and an address immediate field in theinstruction.

In some embodiments instructions are grouped based on opcode 712bit-fields to simplify Opcode decode 740. For an 8-bit opcode, bits 4,5, and 6 allow the execution unit to determine the type of opcode. Theprecise opcode grouping shown is merely an example. In some embodiments,a move and logic opcode group 742 includes data movement and logicinstructions (e.g., move (mov), compare (cmp)). In some embodiments,move and logic group 742 shares the five most significant bits (MSB),where move (mov) instructions are in the form of 0000xxxxb and logicinstructions are in the form of 0001xxxxb. A flow control instructiongroup 744 (e.g., call, jump (jmp)) includes instructions in the form of0010xxxxb (e.g., 0x20). A miscellaneous instruction group 746 includes amix of instructions, including synchronization instructions (e.g., wait,send) in the form of 0011xxxxb (e.g., 0x30). A parallel math instructiongroup 748 includes component-wise arithmetic instructions (e.g., add,multiply (mul)) in the form of 0100xxxxb (e.g., 0x40). The parallel mathgroup 748 performs the arithmetic operations in parallel across datachannels. The vector math group 750 includes arithmetic instructions(e.g., dp4) in the form of 0101xxxxb (e.g., 0x50). The vector math groupperforms arithmetic such as dot product calculations on vector operands.

Graphics Pipeline

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a graphics processor800. Elements of FIG. 8 having the same reference numbers (or names) asthe elements of any other figure herein can operate or function in anymanner similar to that described elsewhere herein, but are not limitedto such.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 800 includes a graphics pipeline820, a media pipeline 830, a display engine 840, thread execution logic850, and a render output pipeline 870. In some embodiments, graphicsprocessor 800 is a graphics processor within a multi-core processingsystem that includes one or more general purpose processing cores. Thegraphics processor is controlled by register writes to one or morecontrol registers (not shown) or via commands issued to graphicsprocessor 800 via a ring interconnect 802. In some embodiments, ringinterconnect 802 couples graphics processor 800 to other processingcomponents, such as other graphics processors or general-purposeprocessors. Commands from ring interconnect 802 are interpreted by acommand streamer 803, which supplies instructions to individualcomponents of graphics pipeline 820 or media pipeline 830.

In some embodiments, command streamer 803 directs the operation of avertex fetcher 805 that reads vertex data from memory and executesvertex-processing commands provided by command streamer 803. In someembodiments, vertex fetcher 805 provides vertex data to a vertex shader807, which performs coordinate space transformation and lightingoperations to each vertex. In some embodiments, vertex fetcher 805 andvertex shader 807 execute vertex-processing instructions by dispatchingexecution threads to execution units 852A, 852B via a thread dispatcher831.

In some embodiments, execution units 852A, 852B are an array of vectorprocessors having an instruction set for performing graphics and mediaoperations. In some embodiments, execution units 852A, 852B have anattached L1 cache 851 that is specific for each array or shared betweenthe arrays. The cache can be configured as a data cache, an instructioncache, or a single cache that is partitioned to contain data andinstructions in different partitions.

In some embodiments, graphics pipeline 820 includes tessellationcomponents to perform hardware-accelerated tessellation of 3D objects.In some embodiments, a programmable hull shader 811 configures thetessellation operations. A programmable domain shader 817 providesback-end evaluation of tessellation output. A tessellator 813 operatesat the direction of hull shader 811 and contains special purpose logicto generate a set of detailed geometric objects based on a coarsegeometric model that is provided as input to graphics pipeline 820. Insome embodiments, if tessellation is not used, tessellation components811, 813, 817 can be bypassed.

In some embodiments, complete geometric objects can be processed by ageometry shader 819 via one or more threads dispatched to executionunits 852A, 852B, or can proceed directly to the clipper 829. In someembodiments, the geometry shader operates on entire geometric objects,rather than vertices or patches of vertices as in previous stages of thegraphics pipeline. If the tessellation is disabled the geometry shader819 receives input from the vertex shader 807. In some embodiments,geometry shader 819 is programmable by a geometry shader program toperform geometry tessellation if the tessellation units are disabled.

Before rasterization, a clipper 829 processes vertex data. The clipper829 may be a fixed function clipper or a programmable clipper havingclipping and geometry shader functions. In some embodiments, arasterizer and depth test component 873 in the render output pipeline870 dispatches pixel shaders to convert the geometric objects into theirper pixel representations. In some embodiments, pixel shader logic isincluded in thread execution logic 850. In some embodiments, anapplication can bypass the rasterizer 873 and access un-rasterizedvertex data via a stream out unit 823.

The graphics processor 800 has an interconnect bus, interconnect fabric,or some other interconnect mechanism that allows data and messagepassing amongst the major components of the processor. In someembodiments, execution units 852A, 852B and associated cache(s) 851,texture and media sampler 854, and texture/sampler cache 858interconnect via a data port 856 to perform memory access andcommunicate with render output pipeline components of the processor. Insome embodiments, sampler 854, caches 851, 858 and execution units 852A,852B each have separate memory access paths.

In some embodiments, render output pipeline 870 contains a rasterizerand depth test component 873 that converts vertex-based objects into anassociated pixel-based representation. In some embodiments, therasterizer logic includes a windower/masker unit to perform fixedfunction triangle and line rasterization. An associated render cache 878and depth cache 879 are also available in some embodiments. A pixeloperations component 877 performs pixel-based operations on the data,though in some instances, pixel operations associated with 2D operations(e.g. bit block image transfers with blending) are performed by the 2Dengine 841, or substituted at display time by the display controller 843using overlay display planes. In some embodiments, a shared L3 cache 875is available to all graphics components, allowing the sharing of datawithout the use of main system memory.

In some embodiments, graphics processor media pipeline 830 includes amedia engine 837 and a video front end 834. In some embodiments, videofront end 834 receives pipeline commands from the command streamer 803.In some embodiments, media pipeline 830 includes a separate commandstreamer. In some embodiments, video front-end 834 processes mediacommands before sending the command to the media engine 837. In someembodiments, media engine 337 includes thread spawning functionality tospawn threads for dispatch to thread execution logic 850 via threaddispatcher 831.

In some embodiments, graphics processor 800 includes a display engine840. In some embodiments, display engine 840 is external to processor800 and couples with the graphics processor via the ring interconnect802, or some other interconnect bus or fabric. In some embodiments,display engine 840 includes a 2D engine 841 and a display controller843. In some embodiments, display engine 840 contains special purposelogic capable of operating independently of the 3D pipeline. In someembodiments, display controller 843 couples with a display device (notshown), which may be a system integrated display device, as in a laptopcomputer, or an external display device attached via a display deviceconnector.

In some embodiments, graphics pipeline 820 and media pipeline 830 areconfigurable to perform operations based on multiple graphics and mediaprogramming interfaces and are not specific to any one applicationprogramming interface (API). In some embodiments, driver software forthe graphics processor translates API calls that are specific to aparticular graphics or media library into commands that can be processedby the graphics processor. In some embodiments, support is provided forthe Open Graphics Library (OpenGL) and Open Computing Language (OpenCL)from the Khronos Group, the Direct3D library from the MicrosoftCorporation, or support may be provided to both OpenGL and D3D. Supportmay also be provided for the Open Source Computer Vision Library(OpenCV). A future API with a compatible 3D pipeline would also besupported if a mapping can be made from the pipeline of the future APIto the pipeline of the graphics processor.

Graphics Pipeline Programming

FIG. 9A is a block diagram illustrating a graphics processor commandformat 900 according to some embodiments. FIG. 9B is a block diagramillustrating a graphics processor command sequence 910 according to anembodiment. The solid lined boxes in FIG. 9A illustrate the componentsthat are generally included in a graphics command while the dashed linesinclude components that are optional or that are only included in asub-set of the graphics commands. The exemplary graphics processorcommand format 900 of FIG. 9A includes data fields to identify a targetclient 902 of the command, a command operation code (opcode) 904, andthe relevant data 906 for the command. A sub-opcode 905 and a commandsize 908 are also included in some commands.

In some embodiments, client 902 specifies the client unit of thegraphics device that processes the command data. In some embodiments, agraphics processor command parser examines the client field of eachcommand to condition the further processing of the command and route thecommand data to the appropriate client unit. In some embodiments, thegraphics processor client units include a memory interface unit, arender unit, a 2D unit, a 3D unit, and a media unit. Each client unithas a corresponding processing pipeline that processes the commands.Once the command is received by the client unit, the client unit readsthe opcode 904 and, if present, sub-opcode 905 to determine theoperation to perform. The client unit performs the command usinginformation in data field 906. For some commands an explicit commandsize 908 is expected to specify the size of the command. In someembodiments, the command parser automatically determines the size of atleast some of the commands based on the command opcode. In someembodiments commands are aligned via multiples of a double word.

The flow diagram in FIG. 9B shows an exemplary graphics processorcommand sequence 910. In some embodiments, software or firmware of adata processing system that features an embodiment of a graphicsprocessor uses a version of the command sequence shown to set up,execute, and terminate a set of graphics operations. A sample commandsequence is shown and described for purposes of example only asembodiments are not limited to these specific commands or to thiscommand sequence. Moreover, the commands may be issued as batch ofcommands in a command sequence, such that the graphics processor willprocess the sequence of commands in at least partially concurrence.

In some embodiments, the graphics processor command sequence 910 maybegin with a pipeline flush command 912 to cause any active graphicspipeline to complete the currently pending commands for the pipeline. Insome embodiments, the 3D pipeline 922 and the media pipeline 924 do notoperate concurrently. The pipeline flush is performed to cause theactive graphics pipeline to complete any pending commands. In responseto a pipeline flush, the command parser for the graphics processor willpause command processing until the active drawing engines completepending operations and the relevant read caches are invalidated.Optionally, any data in the render cache that is marked ‘dirty’ can beflushed to memory. In some embodiments, pipeline flush command 912 canbe used for pipeline synchronization or before placing the graphicsprocessor into a low power state.

In some embodiments, a pipeline select command 913 is used when acommand sequence requires the graphics processor to explicitly switchbetween pipelines. In some embodiments, a pipeline select command 913 isrequired only once within an execution context before issuing pipelinecommands unless the context is to issue commands for both pipelines. Insome embodiments, a pipeline flush command is 912 is requiredimmediately before a pipeline switch via the pipeline select command913.

In some embodiments, a pipeline control command 914 configures agraphics pipeline for operation and is used to program the 3D pipeline922 and the media pipeline 924. In some embodiments, pipeline controlcommand 914 configures the pipeline state for the active pipeline. Inone embodiment, the pipeline control command 914 is used for pipelinesynchronization and to clear data from one or more cache memories withinthe active pipeline before processing a batch of commands.

In some embodiments, return buffer state commands 916 are used toconfigure a set of return buffers for the respective pipelines to writedata. Some pipeline operations require the allocation, selection, orconfiguration of one or more return buffers into which the operationswrite intermediate data during processing. In some embodiments, thegraphics processor also uses one or more return buffers to store outputdata and to perform cross thread communication. In some embodiments, thereturn buffer state 916 includes selecting the size and number of returnbuffers to use for a set of pipeline operations.

The remaining commands in the command sequence differ based on theactive pipeline for operations. Based on a pipeline determination 920,the command sequence is tailored to the 3D pipeline 922 beginning withthe 3D pipeline state 930, or the media pipeline 924 beginning at themedia pipeline state 940.

The commands for the 3D pipeline state 930 include 3D state settingcommands for vertex buffer state, vertex element state, constant colorstate, depth buffer state, and other state variables that are to beconfigured before 3D primitive commands are processed. The values ofthese commands are determined at least in part based the particular 3DAPI in use. In some embodiments, 3D pipeline state 930 commands are alsoable to selectively disable or bypass certain pipeline elements if thoseelements will not be used.

In some embodiments, 3D primitive 932 command is used to submit 3Dprimitives to be processed by the 3D pipeline. Commands and associatedparameters that are passed to the graphics processor via the 3Dprimitive 932 command are forwarded to the vertex fetch function in thegraphics pipeline. The vertex fetch function uses the 3D primitive 932command data to generate vertex data structures. The vertex datastructures are stored in one or more return buffers. In someembodiments, 3D primitive 932 command is used to perform vertexoperations on 3D primitives via vertex shaders. To process vertexshaders, 3D pipeline 922 dispatches shader execution threads to graphicsprocessor execution units.

In some embodiments, 3D pipeline 922 is triggered via an execute 934command or event. In some embodiments, a register write triggers commandexecution. In some embodiments execution is triggered via a ‘go’ or‘kick’ command in the command sequence. In one embodiment commandexecution is triggered using a pipeline synchronization command to flushthe command sequence through the graphics pipeline. The 3D pipeline willperform geometry processing for the 3D primitives. Once operations arecomplete, the resulting geometric objects are rasterized and the pixelengine colors the resulting pixels. Additional commands to control pixelshading and pixel back end operations may also be included for thoseoperations.

In some embodiments, the graphics processor command sequence 910 followsthe media pipeline 924 path when performing media operations. Ingeneral, the specific use and manner of programming for the mediapipeline 924 depends on the media or compute operations to be performed.Specific media decode operations may be offloaded to the media pipelineduring media decode. In some embodiments, the media pipeline can also bebypassed and media decode can be performed in whole or in part usingresources provided by one or more general purpose processing cores. Inone embodiment, the media pipeline also includes elements forgeneral-purpose graphics processor unit (GPGPU) operations, where thegraphics processor is used to perform SIMD vector operations usingcomputational shader programs that are not explicitly related to therendering of graphics primitives.

In some embodiments, media pipeline 924 is configured in a similarmanner as the 3D pipeline 922. A set of media pipeline state commands940 are dispatched or placed into in a command queue before the mediaobject commands 942. In some embodiments, media pipeline state commands940 include data to configure the media pipeline elements that will beused to process the media objects. This includes data to configure thevideo decode and video encode logic within the media pipeline, such asencode or decode format. In some embodiments, media pipeline statecommands 940 also support the use one or more pointers to “indirect”state elements that contain a batch of state settings.

In some embodiments, media object commands 942 supply pointers to mediaobjects for processing by the media pipeline. The media objects includememory buffers containing video data to be processed. In someembodiments, all media pipeline states must be valid before issuing amedia object command 942. Once the pipeline state is configured andmedia object commands 942 are queued, the media pipeline 924 istriggered via an execute command 944 or an equivalent execute event(e.g., register write). Output from media pipeline 924 may then be postprocessed by operations provided by the 3D pipeline 922 or the mediapipeline 924. In some embodiments, GPGPU operations are configured andexecuted in a similar manner as media operations.

Graphics Software Architecture

FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary graphics software architecture for a dataprocessing system 1000 according to some embodiments. In someembodiments, software architecture includes a 3D graphics application1010, an operating system 1020, and at least one processor 1030. In someembodiments, processor 1030 includes a graphics processor 1032 and oneor more general-purpose processor core(s) 1034. The graphics application1010 and operating system 1020 each execute in the system memory 1050 ofthe data processing system.

In some embodiments, 3D graphics application 1010 contains one or moreshader programs including shader instructions 1012. The shader languageinstructions may be in a high-level shader language, such as the HighLevel Shader Language (HLSL) or the OpenGL Shader Language (GLSL). Theapplication also includes executable instructions 1014 in a machinelanguage suitable for execution by the general-purpose processor core1034. The application also includes graphics objects 1016 defined byvertex data.

In some embodiments, operating system 1020 is a Microsoft® Windows®operating system from the Microsoft Corporation, a proprietary UNIX-likeoperating system, or an open source UNIX-like operating system using avariant of the Linux kernel. The operating system 1020 can support agraphics API 1022 such as the Direct3D API or the OpenGL API. When theDirect3D API is in use, the operating system 1020 uses a front-endshader compiler 1024 to compile any shader instructions 1012 in HLSLinto a lower-level shader language. The compilation may be ajust-in-time (JIT) compilation or the application can perform shaderpre-compilation. In some embodiments, high-level shaders are compiledinto low-level shaders during the compilation of the 3D graphicsapplication 1010.

In some embodiments, user mode graphics driver 1026 contains a back-endshader compiler 1027 to convert the shader instructions 1012 into ahardware specific representation. When the OpenGL API is in use, shaderinstructions 1012 in the GLSL high-level language are passed to a usermode graphics driver 1026 for compilation. In some embodiments, usermode graphics driver 1026 uses operating system kernel mode functions1028 to communicate with a kernel mode graphics driver 1029. In someembodiments, kernel mode graphics driver 1029 communicates with graphicsprocessor 1032 to dispatch commands and instructions.

IP Core Implementations

One or more aspects of at least one embodiment may be implemented byrepresentative code stored on a machine-readable medium which representsand/or defines logic within an integrated circuit such as a processor.For example, the machine-readable medium may include instructions whichrepresent various logic within the processor. When read by a machine,the instructions may cause the machine to fabricate the logic to performthe techniques described herein. Such representations, known as “IPcores,” are reusable units of logic for an integrated circuit that maybe stored on a tangible, machine-readable medium as a hardware modelthat describes the structure of the integrated circuit. The hardwaremodel may be supplied to various customers or manufacturing facilities,which load the hardware model on fabrication machines that manufacturethe integrated circuit. The integrated circuit may be fabricated suchthat the circuit performs operations described in association with anyof the embodiments described herein.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an IP core development system1100 that may be used to manufacture an integrated circuit to performoperations according to an embodiment. The IP core development system1100 may be used to generate modular, re-usable designs that can beincorporated into a larger design or used to construct an entireintegrated circuit (e.g., an SOC integrated circuit). A design facility1130 can generate a software simulation 1110 of an IP core design in ahigh level programming language (e.g., C/C++). The software simulation1110 can be used to design, test, and verify the behavior of the IP coreusing a simulation model 1112. The simulation model 1112 may includefunctional, behavioral, and/or timing simulations. A register transferlevel (RTL) design can then be created or synthesized from thesimulation model 1112. The RTL design 1115 is an abstraction of thebehavior of the integrated circuit that models the flow of digitalsignals between hardware registers, including the associated logicperformed using the modeled digital signals. In addition to an RTLdesign 1115, lower-level designs at the logic level or transistor levelmay also be created, designed, or synthesized. Thus, the particulardetails of the initial design and simulation may vary.

The RTL design 1115 or equivalent may be further synthesized by thedesign facility into a hardware model 1120, which may be in a hardwaredescription language (HDL), or some other representation of physicaldesign data. The HDL may be further simulated or tested to verify the IPcore design. The IP core design can be stored for delivery to a 3^(rd)party fabrication facility 1165 using non-volatile memory 1140 (e.g.,hard disk, flash memory, or any non-volatile storage medium).Alternatively, the IP core design may be transmitted (e.g., via theInternet) over a wired connection 1150 or wireless connection 1160. Thefabrication facility 1165 may then fabricate an integrated circuit thatis based at least in part on the IP core design. The fabricatedintegrated circuit can be configured to perform operations in accordancewith at least one embodiment described herein.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system on a chipintegrated circuit 1200 that may be fabricated using one or more IPcores, according to an embodiment. The exemplary integrated circuitincludes one or more application processors 1205 (e.g., CPUs), at leastone graphics processor 1210, and may additionally include an imageprocessor 1215 and/or a video processor 1220, any of which may be amodular IP core from the same or multiple different design facilities.The integrated circuit includes peripheral or bus logic including a USBcontroller 1225, UART controller 1230, an SPI/SDIO controller 1235, andan I²S/I²C controller 1240. Additionally, the integrated circuit caninclude a display device 1245 coupled to one or more of ahigh-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) controller 1250 and a mobileindustry processor interface (MIPI) display interface 1255. Storage maybe provided by a flash memory subsystem 1260 including flash memory anda flash memory controller. Memory interface may be provided via a memorycontroller 1265 for access to SDRAM or SRAM memory devices. Someintegrated circuits additionally include an embedded security engine1270.

Additionally, other logic and circuits may be included in the processorof integrated circuit 1200, including additional graphicsprocessors/cores, peripheral interface controllers, or general purposeprocessor cores.

FIG. 13 illustrates a computing device 1300 employing a ray compressionmechanism 1310 according to one embodiment. Computing device 1300 (e.g.,smart wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, head-mounteddisplay (HMDs), mobile computers, Internet of Things (IoT) devices,laptop computers, desktop computers, server computers, etc.) may be thesame as data processing system 100 of FIG. 1 and accordingly, forbrevity, clarity, and ease of understanding, many of the details statedabove with reference to FIGS. 1-12 are not further discussed or repeatedhereafter. As illustrated, in one embodiment, computing device 1300 isshown as hosting ray compression mechanism (“compression mechanism”)1310.

In the illustrated embodiment, compression mechanism 1310 is shown asbeing hosted by graphics driver 1316; however, it is contemplated thatembodiments are not limited as such. For example, in one embodiment,compression mechanism 1310 may be part of firmware of GPU 1314 or, inanother embodiment, hosted by operating system 1306. In yet anotherembodiment, compression mechanism 1310 may be a hardware componenthosted by GPU 1314. In yet another embodiment, compression mechanism1310 may be partially and simultaneously hosted by multiple componentsof computing device 1300, such as one or more of driver 1316, GPU 1314,GPU firmware, operating system 1306, and/or the like.

For example, compression mechanism 1310 may be hosted by graphics driver1316, while a number of hardware components or units, such as raycompression unit (RCU) 1320 and ray tracing unit (RTU) 1330, may behosted by or implemented in or part of GPU 1314.

Throughout the document, the term “user” may be interchangeably referredto as “viewer”, “observer”, “person”, “individual”, “end-user”, and/orthe like. It is to be noted that throughout this document, terms like“graphics domain” may be referenced interchangeably with “graphicsprocessing unit”, “graphics processor”, or simply “GPU” and similarly,“CPU domain” or “host domain” may be referenced interchangeably with“computer processing unit”, “application processor”, or simply “CPU”.

Computing device 1300 may include any number and type of communicationdevices, such as large computing systems, such as server computers,desktop computers, etc., and may further include set-top boxes (e.g.,Internet-based cable television set-top boxes, etc.), global positioningsystem (GPS)-based devices, etc. Computing device 1300 may includemobile computing devices serving as communication devices, such ascellular phones including smartphones, personal digital assistants(PDAs), tablet computers, laptop computers, e-readers, smarttelevisions, television platforms, wearable devices (e.g., glasses,watches, bracelets, smartcards, jewelry, clothing items, etc.), mediaplayers, etc. For example, in one embodiment, computing device 1300 mayinclude a mobile computing device employing a computer platform hostingan integrated circuit (“IC”), such as system on a chip (“SoC” or “SOC”),integrating various hardware and/or software components of computingdevice 1300 on a single chip.

As illustrated, in one embodiment, computing device 1300 may include anynumber and type of hardware and/or software components, such as (withoutlimitation) graphics processing unit 1314, graphics driver (alsoreferred to as “GPU driver”, “graphics driver logic”, “driver logic”,user-mode driver (UMD), UMD, user-mode driver framework (UMDF), UMDF, orsimply “driver”) 1316, central processing unit 1312, memory 1308,network devices, drivers, or the like, as well as input/output (I/O)sources 1304, such as touchscreens, touch panels, touch pads, virtual orregular keyboards, virtual or regular mice, ports, connectors, etc.Computing device 1300 may include operating system (OS) 1306 serving asan interface between hardware and/or physical resources of the computerdevice 1300 and a user. It is contemplated that CPU 1312 may include oneor processors, such as processor(s) 102 of FIG. 1, while GPU 1314 mayinclude one or more graphics processors, such as graphics processor(s)108 of FIG. 1.

It is to be noted that terms like “node”, “computing node”, “server”,“server device”, “cloud computer”, “cloud server”, “cloud servercomputer”, “machine”, “host machine”, “device”, “computing device”,“computer”, “computing system”, and the like, may be usedinterchangeably throughout this document. It is to be further noted thatterms like “application”, “software application”, “program”, “softwareprogram”, “package”, “software package”, and the like, may be usedinterchangeably throughout this document. Also, terms like “job”,“input”, “request”, “message”, and the like, may be used interchangeablythroughout this document.

It is contemplated and as further described with reference to FIGS.1-12, some processes of the graphics pipeline as described above areimplemented in software, while the rest are implemented in hardware. Agraphics pipeline may be implemented in a graphics coprocessor design,where CPU 1312 is designed to work with GPU 1314 which may be includedin or co-located with CPU 1312. In one embodiment, GPU 1314 may employany number and type of conventional software and hardware logic toperform the conventional functions relating to graphics rendering aswell as novel software and hardware logic to execute any number and typeof instructions, such as instructions 121 of FIG. 1, to perform thevarious novel functions of compression mechanism 1310 as disclosedthroughout this document.

As aforementioned, memory 1308 may include a random access memory (RAM)comprising application database having object information. A memorycontroller hub, such as memory controller hub 116 of FIG. 1, may accessdata in the RAM and forward it to GPU 1314 for graphics pipelineprocessing. RAM may include double data rate RAM (DDR RAM), extendeddata output RAM (EDO RAM), etc. CPU 1312 interacts with a hardwaregraphics pipeline, as illustrated with reference to FIG. 3, to sharegraphics pipelining functionality. Processed data is stored in a bufferin the hardware graphics pipeline, and state information is stored inmemory 1308. The resulting image is then transferred to I/O sources1304, such as a display component, such as display device 320 of FIG. 3,for displaying of the image. It is contemplated that the display devicemay be of various types, such as Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), Thin FilmTransistor (TFT), Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Organic Light EmittingDiode (OLED) array, etc., to display information to a user.

Memory 1308 may comprise a pre-allocated region of a buffer (e.g., framebuffer); however, it should be understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art that the embodiments are not so limited, and that any memoryaccessible to the lower graphics pipeline may be used. Computing device1300 may further include input/output (I/O) control hub (ICH) 130 asreferenced in FIG. 1, one or more I/O sources 1304, etc.

CPU 1312 may include one or more processors to execute instructions inorder to perform whatever software routines the computing systemimplements. The instructions frequently involve some sort of operationperformed upon data. Both data and instructions may be stored in systemmemory 1308 and any associated cache. Cache is typically designed tohave shorter latency times than system memory 1308; for example, cachemight be integrated onto the same silicon chip(s) as the processor(s)and/or constructed with faster static RAM (SRAM) cells whilst the systemmemory 1308 might be constructed with slower dynamic RAM (DRAM) cells.By tending to store more frequently used instructions and data in thecache as opposed to the system memory 1308, the overall performanceefficiency of computing device 1300 improves. It is contemplated that insome embodiments, GPU 1314 may exist as part of CPU 1312 (such as partof a physical CPU package) in which case, memory 1308 may be shared byCPU 1312 and GPU 1314 or kept separated.

System memory 1308 may be made available to other components within thecomputing device 1300. For example, any data (e.g., input graphics data)received from various interfaces to the computing device 1300 (e.g.,keyboard and mouse, printer port, Local Area Network (LAN) port, modemport, etc.) or retrieved from an internal storage element of thecomputer device 1300 (e.g., hard disk drive) are often temporarilyqueued into system memory 1308 prior to their being operated upon by theone or more processor(s) in the implementation of a software program.Similarly, data that a software program determines should be sent fromthe computing device 1300 to an outside entity through one of thecomputing system interfaces, or stored into an internal storage element,is often temporarily queued in system memory 1308 prior to its beingtransmitted or stored.

Further, for example, an ICH, such as ICH 130 of FIG. 1, may be used forensuring that such data is properly passed between the system memory1308 and its appropriate corresponding computing system interface (andinternal storage device if the computing system is so designed) and mayhave bi-directional point-to-point links between itself and the observedI/O sources/devices 1304. Similarly, an MCH, such as MCH 116 of FIG. 1,may be used for managing the various contending requests for systemmemory 1308 accesses amongst CPU 1312 and GPU 1314, interfaces andinternal storage elements that may proximately arise in time withrespect to one another.

I/O sources 1304 may include one or more I/O devices that areimplemented for transferring data to and/or from computing device 1300(e.g., a networking adapter); or, for a large scale non-volatile storagewithin computing device 1300 (e.g., hard disk drive). User input device,including alphanumeric and other keys, may be used to communicateinformation and command selections to GPU 1314. Another type of userinput device is cursor control, such as a mouse, a trackball, atouchscreen, a touchpad, or cursor direction keys to communicatedirection information and command selections to GPU 1314 and to controlcursor movement on the display device. Camera and microphone arrays ofcomputer device 1300 may be employed to observe gestures, record audioand video and to receive and transmit visual and audio commands.

Computing device 1300 may further include network interface(s) toprovide access to a network, such as a LAN, a wide area network (WAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), a personal area network (PAN),Bluetooth, a cloud network, a mobile network (e.g., 3^(rd) Generation(3G), 4^(th) Generation (4G), etc.), an intranet, the Internet, etc.Network interface(s) may include, for example, a wireless networkinterface having antenna, which may represent one or more antenna(e).Network interface(s) may also include, for example, a wired networkinterface to communicate with remote devices via network cable, whichmay be, for example, an Ethernet cable, a coaxial cable, a fiber opticcable, a serial cable, or a parallel cable.

Network interface(s) may provide access to a LAN, for example, byconforming to IEEE 802.11b and/or IEEE 802.11g standards, and/or thewireless network interface may provide access to a personal areanetwork, for example, by conforming to Bluetooth standards. Otherwireless network interfaces and/or protocols, including previous andsubsequent versions of the standards, may also be supported. In additionto, or instead of, communication via the wireless LAN standards, networkinterface(s) may provide wireless communication using, for example, TimeDivision, Multiple Access (TDMA) protocols, Global Systems for MobileCommunications (GSM) protocols, Code Division, Multiple Access (CDMA)protocols, and/or any other type of wireless communications protocols.

Network interface(s) may include one or more communication interfaces,such as a modem, a network interface card, or other well-known interfacedevices, such as those used for coupling to the Ethernet, token ring, orother types of physical wired or wireless attachments for purposes ofproviding a communication link to support a LAN or a WAN, for example.In this manner, the computer system may also be coupled to a number ofperipheral devices, clients, control surfaces, consoles, or servers viaa conventional network infrastructure, including an Intranet or theInternet, for example.

It is to be appreciated that a lesser or more equipped system than theexample described above may be preferred for certain implementations.Therefore, the configuration of computing device 1300 may vary fromimplementation to implementation depending upon numerous factors, suchas price constraints, performance requirements, technologicalimprovements, or other circumstances. Examples of the electronic deviceor computer system 1300 may include (without limitation) a mobiledevice, a personal digital assistant, a mobile computing device, asmartphone, a cellular telephone, a handset, a one-way pager, a two-waypager, a messaging device, a computer, a personal computer (PC), adesktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a handheldcomputer, a tablet computer, a server, a server array or server farm, aweb server, a network server, an Internet server, a work station, amini-computer, a main frame computer, a supercomputer, a networkappliance, a web appliance, a distributed computing system,multiprocessor systems, processor-based systems, consumer electronics,programmable consumer electronics, television, digital television, settop box, wireless access point, base station, subscriber station, mobilesubscriber center, radio network controller, router, hub, gateway,bridge, switch, machine, or combinations thereof.

Embodiments may be implemented as any or a combination of: one or moremicrochips or integrated circuits interconnected using a parentboard,hardwired logic, software stored by a memory device and executed by amicroprocessor, firmware, an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), and/or a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The term “logic”may include, by way of example, software or hardware and/or combinationsof software and hardware.

Embodiments may be provided, for example, as a computer program productwhich may include one or more machine-readable media having storedthereon machine-executable instructions that, when executed by one ormore machines such as a computer, network of computers, or otherelectronic devices, may result in the one or more machines carrying outoperations in accordance with embodiments described herein. Amachine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppydiskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs (Compact Disc-Read Only Memories), andmagneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs (Erasable Programmable ReadOnly Memories), EEPROMs (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read OnlyMemories), magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other type ofmedia/machine-readable medium suitable for storing machine-executableinstructions.

Moreover, embodiments may be downloaded as a computer program product,wherein the program may be transferred from a remote computer (e.g., aserver) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of one or moredata signals embodied in and/or modulated by a carrier wave or otherpropagation medium via a communication link (e.g., a modem and/ornetwork connection).

FIG. 14A illustrates a ray compression mechanism 1310 according to oneembodiment. For brevity, many of the details already discussed withreference to FIGS. 1-13 are not repeated or discussed hereafter. In oneembodiment, compression mechanism 1310 may include any number and typeof components, such as (without limitation):

detection/reception logic 1401; sorting logic 1403; forwarding logic1405; compression logic 1407; budget evaluation logic 1409;storage/transferring logic 1411; andcommunication/compatibility logic 1413. Further, in one embodiment, anynumber and type of hardware components may be employed at computingdevice 1300, such as RCU 1320 and RTU 1330 being hosted by GPU 1314.

Computing device 1300 is further shown to be in communication with oneor more repositories, datasets, and/or databases, such as database(s)1430 (e.g., cloud storage, non-cloud storage, etc.), where thecommunication may be direct and/or over communication medium, such asone or more networks (e.g., a cloud network, a proximity network, amobile network, an intranet, the Internet, etc.). Computing device 1300may further in communication with one or more computing devices (e.g.,gaming devices, mobile devices, HMD, VR devices, etc.) over one or morenetworks.

Embodiments provide for flexible ray compression since random access maynot be needed in the same manner with regard to ray compression as itmay be needed in terms of color compression. For example, each ray of aset of rays may consist of one or more of a pixel identification (ID)(x, y), a ray origin (Ox, Oy, Oz), and a ray direction (Dx, Dy, Dz),along with any number of bits (e.g., two bits) to hold and indicaterelevant data, such as whether the ray direction associated with a rayneeds high accuracy (such as in case of specular rays).

Referring back to compression mechanism 1310, a number of rays may bedetected by detection/reception logic 1401, where the rays may be partof a stream of rays. Upon detecting the rays, sorting logic 1403 may betriggered to seek to sort the rays in an order to extract coherency. Aswill be further described in this document, sorting may be based on anynumber and type of factors, such as ray types, ray direction, rayorigin, and/or the like. In one embodiment, forwarding logic 1405 maythen be triggered to feed or forward a predetermined number of rays,such N rays, to RCU 1320 so that RCU 1320 may begin to compress the Nrays and/or the data associated with the N rays as facilitated bycompression logic 1407.

In one embodiment, given that there might be a target storage budget,such as S bytes, for generating a compressed representation, budgetevaluation logic 1409 may facilitate RCU 1320 based on one or moreevents, such as 1) if S bytes for the compressed representation isexceeded with these N rays, then any number of rays may be removed untilthe budget is met; and/or 2) continuously stream the N raysone-ray-at-a-time until the budget of S bytes is reach or nearlyreached. In one embodiment, the compressed rays as compressed by RCU1320 and as facilitated by compression logic 1407 are stored ortransferred in compressed form as facilitated by storage/transferringlogic 1411. Further, for example, the rays may be streamed one ray at atime to RCU 1320, while directly building a compressed representationand simply adding the rays until the budget S bytes is met and althoughthis may not result in a high quality compression, but this techniquemay be easily implemented.

Now referring back to sorting, sorting logic 1403 may be used to performa rough sorting or binning of the rays in order to extract coherency,where sorting may be performed in any number of manners or types wherethe order of sorting or the types of sorting may also be altered. Forexample, sorting may be performed in one or more ways as follows: 1)binning based on the ray type (e.g., two accuracy bits), such as whetherthe ray is a low-accuracy/quality diffuse ray, a medium quality/accuracyshadow/glossy ray, or a high quality/accuracy specular/eye ray, etc.This may be regarded as an essential characteristic on which sorting maybe based since, for example, a diffuse ray direction may need or be oflesser accuracy than some of the other rays, such as a specular/eye ray,as illustrated with respect to FIG. 15B; 2) binning based onbidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) that was hit; 3)sorting of ray direction index; 4) binning based on ray origin; and/or5) any sequence or combination thereof, such as perform theaforementioned number 2 and then number 4 and then number 3, etc.

For certain elementary details, “Geometry compression”, Michael Deering,Proceedings of the 22nd annual conference on Comp ter graphics andinteractive techniques, SIGGRAPH '95, vol. 29, p 13-20, ACM Press” maybe referenced.

In one embodiment, upon sorting, the ray may be forward on to or fedinto RCU 1320 by forwarding logic 1405, where forwarding or feeding maybe performed in any number and type of ways. For example, feeding raysto RCE 1320, as facilitated by forwarding logic 1405, may be performedby adding one ray at a time while generating a compressed representationimmediately, where, in this case, the rays may be sorted first, while,in other embodiments, sorting may be avoided all together. For such astreaming compression, a first ray may be chosen as a reference, whileany subsequent rays may be compressed as a delta over the reference.

In another embodiment, to start the compression process, a predefinednumber of rays, such as N rays, may be fed into RCU 1320, while allowingRCU 1320 to build a compressed representation based on the feed. Thisallows for relatively simple preparation and application of the sortingprocess, such as finding a good reference value for each of the rayorigins, ray directions, etc., and a number of bits (e.g., two bits)(also referred to as “accuracy bits) to indicate whether a ray needshigh accuracy, medium accuracy, or low accuracy, as further illustratedwith reference to FIG. 15. For example, FIG. 15 illustrates high qualityset of eye or specular rays 1533 of which reflection ray 1541 is shownas a high-accuracy ray correspondingly needing high-level quality asbeing reflected off of surface or block 1547A, while shadow or glossyreflection rays 1543, being reflected off of surface or block 1547B, areshown as medium-accuracy rays correspondingly needing medium-levelquality, and finally, diffuse rays 1545, being reflected off of surfaceor block 1547C, are shown as being low-accuracy rays needing low-levelquality. All rays 1541, 1543, 1545 in FIG. 15 are shown as originatingfrom a single origin, such as origin 1531, traveling in a bunch, such asa bunch of eye rays 1533, before splitting and reflecting off ofsurfaces 1547A, 1547B, 1547C.

In one embodiment, compression logic 1407 may be triggered to facilitatecompression of ray origins and/or ray directions. Further, accuracy bitsmay be used to determine whether fewer bits may be used for raydirections and so that after compression, such accuracy bits may not beneeded since it is contemplated that ray directions may be encoded usingless space. In one embodiment, compression logic 1407 is further tofacilitate compression of one or more ray origins and/or one or more raydirections. In one embodiment, compression logic 1407 is further tofacilitate exploitation or use of one or more accuracy bits (e.g., twobits) to obtain lower or higher qualities of compression whenappropriate, such as low quality when appropriate and/or acceptable. Inone embodiment, compression logic 1407 is further to facilitatecompression of indices for the one or more ray directions and less datafor one or more ray destinations, where the compression techniqueincludes computing a reference index for each of the one or more raydirections and subsequently, coding a next ray direction relative to aprevious ray direction or the reference index.

With regard to ray origins, such as ray origin 1531 of FIG. 15, a rayorigin (e.g., Ox, Oy, Oz) may be originally stored using three floatingpoint (FP) values each with, for example, 32 bits per channel (alsoreferred to as “component”), such as 32*3=96 bits. For example, areference value for each component, such as Orefx, Orefy, Orefz, etc.,may be stored. In order to do delta encoding, each FP32 value may bereinterpreted as an integer 32 (int32) value as the difference may becomputed without loss. All differences between the ray origin component(cast to int32) and the Oref-values are computed along with computingthe maximums (“max”) for differences relating to x, y, and z. Themaximum difference per channel dictates how many bits are needed tostore the differences for that channel. For example, if the maxdifference for the red channel is 25, then 5 bits may be needed to storethe red differences. This is under the assumption that we store thedifferences using a fixed number of bits. They can also beHuffman-encoded or encoded using Golomb-Rice methods, or such. In thecase of fixed number of bits, we store, say 5 bits per channel percompressed representation to indicate how many difference bits areneeded for that channel. If compression does not decrease the size ofthe origins substantially, then they may not need to be compressed atall. Further, a skip bit per channel may also be added, which is 1 ifall difference values for the channel are zero, in which case, nodifference (delta) values are stored for that channel.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 15, eye rays 1533 are highly coherentand shown as originating from a single point of origin, such as origin1531. Now, upon reaching surface 1547C, one of eye rays 1533 is regardedas diffuse rays 1545 based on its reflection direction, such as going inall sorts of random directions where each hit point shoots out severalrays, while these rays may be weighted together and the accuracy oftheir direction may not be as critical and thus, as mentioned above,such diffuse rays 1545 may be regarded as low quality rays requiring lowaccuracy. Another one of eye rays 1533, upon reaching surface 1547B, mayturn into glossy reflection rays 1543 given that a sufficient number ofrays are shot in a general direction. These glossy reflection rays 1543are regarded as medium quality rays requiring medium accuracy.Similarly, another one of eye rays 1533, upon reaching surface 1547Aturns into pure reflection ray 1541 reflecting out in single directionand thus, this pure reflection ray 1541 (and specular shading) isconsidered a high quality ray needing high accuracy.

With regard to ray direction-based sorting, as facilitated by sortinglogic 1403, a normal is a unit vector and similarly, a ray direction mayalso be a unit vector and thus, normal compression may also be used forray directions. In uncompressed form, for example, a ray direction maybe stored using 32-bit FP numbers, such as a total of 96 bits, where 24bits may be sufficient (e.g., skipping an exponent) for normal, but thatmuch may not be needed. Further, 17 bits per normal may be sufficientand an octant representation, such as an octant of a sphere, may bedivided into sextants.

Further, a final representation of an octant may include 18 bits pernormal, such as 3 bits per section, which results in 19 bits if thelower hemisphere is to be used as well (such as in case of raydirections, they can point in any direction, while normal do not pointin negative hemisphere). The number of bits can be increased for evenhigher quality ray directions, or reduced down, such as to as little as6 bits, per normal. For example, a reasonably medium quality normal maybe 16 bits. In one embodiment, depending on the quality needed, forexample, a high-quality ray direction is stored using 32 bits, whilemedium quality is stored using 7, 10, 13 or 16 bits, and/or the like,and low-quality is stored using 7 or 10 bits, for example. It iscontemplated that these are merely examples and that other sizes may beused in varying circumstances.

Further, for example, since each normal is essentially an index, with afew bits for handling different types of symmetry, these may be used toefficiently delta-compress when they are coherent. Thus, for example, inthe sorting pass as facilitated by sorting logic 1403, a ray directionmay be converted into a ray direction index (e.g., 32 bits for highquality) and a minimum of these indices may be found, and the delta maybe computed against that minimum. Similarly, with regard to ray origins,merely one ray direction index value (e.g., 32-bit value, 17-bit value,etc.) may be used to compute differences. In one embodiment, analternative to streaming may be to select a first ray direction index asa reference value and compute the difference between a current ray's raydirection index and that reference value. In another embodiment,differences between consecutive ray direction indices may be computed,which serializes the process and is often avoided in hardwareimplementations.

As aforementioned with respect to budget evaluation logic 1409 thatthere may be a budget of number of bytes, such as 1024 bytes, such thatthe rays may need to be sufficiently compressed to meet the budget. Forexample, if the budget is 1024 bytes and if a ray, in an uncompressedformat, occupies 3*4+3*4=6*4=24 bytes, then, at most, 42 uncompressedrays may be stored without going over the budget. Embodiments providefor fitting as many rays into the budget as possible and thus, a goodaverage of starting set of rays, such as N rays, may be determined bygathering statistics in real applications as facilitated by budgetevaluation logic 1409. For example, if N=64 for a budget of 1024 bytes,then 64 rays will need to be compressed into 1024 bytes. On the onehand, if there remains any unused space, then a bunch of rays may thenbe added to it until the budget is reached. On the other hand, if thebudget is exceeded, a few of the rays may be removed until the totalsize of the remaining rays fits the budget. Nevertheless, as a default,42 uncompressed rays may be sent. As aforementioned, this sending ofrays to RCU 1320 for compression may be facilitated by forwarding logic1405, while the actual compression of the rays by RCE 1320 may befacilitated by compression logic 1407. This is different then colorcompression where a fixed number of pixels is typically compressed downto a predefined set of sizes, such as 50%, 25%, etc.

Further, as illustrated in reference to FIG. 15, many of the surfaces,such as surfaces 1547A-C, in rendering are 100% diffuse, such as when aray, such as on of rays 1533, hits one such surface, the photons of theray enter the material of the surface for a short period of time andsubsequently, the photon is shot out in a random direction, such asdiffuse rays 1545. Since such diffusely reflected rays can be outputtedin any direction, they may not need to be very high quality. Hence, inone embodiment, upon generation of rays from its origin, such as origin1531 and rays 1533 of FIG. 15, two accuracy bits may be tracked for eachof the rays. Further, aforementioned, high quality ray directions areneeded for eye rays and specular rays, such as reflection ray 1541 ofFIG. 15, while medium quality is needed for shadow rays and glossy rays,such as glossy reflection rays 1543 of FIG. 15. With regard to the lowquality rays, such as diffuse rays 1545, upon hitting a relevantsurface, such as surface 1547C, within its path, the results may beblurred even if hitting a reflective surface and thus, such directionsmay be allowed to be of even lower accuracy.

Continuing with FIG. 15, all eye rays 1533 are shown to originating froma common origin, such as origin 1531, and thus, instead of storingmultiple identical ray origins, such as 64 origins, merely a single rayorigin may be stored, such as origin 1531, and three skip bitsindicating that all the ray origins are the same origin 1531. Thedifference is 64*12=768 bytes in uncompressed form for the 64 rayorigins, while the compressed representation may use merely 12 bytes+3bits. This is approximately a 64× compression factor for eye ray originfor 64 rays and thus, in general, a Kx compression factor for K rays.

Similarly, for example, shadow rays may be relatively coherent since therays usually originate on a surface and such ray origins may be closelylocated together. Further, shadow rays are likely to end somewhere on anarea light source or exactly on the point of a point light. This allowsfor ray directions to be rather coherent and their respective raydirection indices to be relatively similar which, in turn, makes for anefficient delta compression.

It is contemplated and as previously described, embodiments for raycompression may be employed as software, hardware, and/or firmware or acombination thereof, such as a hardware component to support a softwareimplementation of ray streaming.

Communication/compatibility logic 1413 may be used to facilitate dynamiccommunication and compatibility between computing device 1300 and anynumber and type of other computing devices (such as mobile computingdevice, desktop computer, server computing device, etc.), processingdevices (such as CPUs, GPUs, etc.), capturing/sensing/detecting devices(such as capturing/sensing components including cameras, depth sensingcameras, camera sensors, RGB sensors, microphones, etc.), displaydevices (such as output components including display screens, displayareas, display projectors, etc.), user/context-awareness componentsand/or identification/verification sensors/devices (such as biometricsensors/detectors, scanners, etc.), memory or storage devices,databases, and/or data sources (such as data storage devices, harddrives, solid-state drives, hard disks, memory cards or devices, memorycircuits, etc.), communication channels or networks (e.g., Cloudnetwork, the Internet, intranet, cellular network, proximity networks,such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy (BLE), Bluetooth Smart, Wi-Fiproximity, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Near FieldCommunication (NFC), Body Area Network (BAN), etc.), wireless or wiredcommunications and relevant protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi®, WiMAX, Ethernet,etc.), connectivity and location management techniques, softwareapplications/websites, (e.g., social and/or business networkingwebsites, etc., business applications, games and other entertainmentapplications, etc.), programming languages, etc., while ensuringcompatibility with changing technologies, parameters, protocols,standards, etc.

Throughout this document, terms like “logic”, “component”, “module”,“framework”, “engine”, “mechanism”, and the like, may be referencedinterchangeably and include, by way of example, software, hardware,and/or any combination of software and hardware, such as firmware. Inone example, “logic” may refer to or include a software component thatis capable of working with one or more of an operating system (e.g.,operating system 1306), a graphics driver (e.g., graphics driver 1316),etc., of a computing device, such as computing device 1300. In anotherexample, “logic” may refer to or include a hardware component that iscapable of being physically installed along with or as part of one ormore system hardware elements, such as an application processor (e.g.,CPU 1312), a graphics processor (e.g., GPU 1314), etc., of a computingdevice, such as computing device 1300. In yet another embodiment,“logic” may refer to or include a firmware component that is capable ofbeing part of system firmware, such as firmware of an applicationprocessor (e.g., CPU 1312) or a graphics processor (e.g., GPU 1314),etc., of a computing device, such as computing device 1300.

Further, any use of a particular brand, word, term, phrase, name, and/oracronym, such as “GPU”, “GPU domain”, “GPGPU”, “CPU”, “CPU domain”,“graphics driver”, “workload”, “application”, “frame”, “work unit”,“draw”, “dispatch”, “API”, “hardware”, “software”, “agent”, “graphicsdriver”, “kernel mode graphics driver”, “user-mode driver”, “UMD”,“user-mode driver framework”, “UMDF”, “rays”, “eye rays”, “diffuserays”, “shadow rays”, “reflection rays”, “glossy reflection rays”, “raycompression unit”, “RCU”, “sorting”, “ray origin”, “ray direction”,“bits”, “bytes”, “compression”, etc., should not be read to limitembodiments to software or devices that carry that label in products orin literature external to this document.

It is contemplated that any number and type of components may be addedto and/or removed from compression mechanism 1310 to facilitate variousembodiments including adding, removing, and/or enhancing certainfeatures. For brevity, clarity, and ease of understanding of compressionmechanism 1310, many of the standard and/or known components, such asthose of a computing device, are not shown or discussed here. It iscontemplated that embodiments, as described herein, are not limited toany particular technology, topology, system, architecture, and/orstandard and are dynamic enough to adopt and adapt to any futurechanges.

FIG. 14B illustrates a ray compression architectural placement(“placement”) 1450 according to one embodiment. For brevity, many of thedetails discussed previously discussed with reference to FIGS. 1-14A maynot be discussed or repeated hereafter. Further, it is contemplated andto be noted that embodiments are not limited to any particulararchitecture or placement of components, such as placement 1450.

As shown with respect to FIG. 14A, any number and type of hardwarecomponents, such as RCU 1320 and RTU 1330, may be hosted by computingdevice 1300, such as at GPU 1314, where, in the illustrated embodiment,RCU 1320 may include a decompression unit, such as ray streamdecompressor (RSD) 1451, and a compression unit, such as ray streamcompressor (RSC) 1453, that are in shown to be in communication with RTU1330 and memory 1308. As further illustrated, any new rays that are tobe compressed 1463 are communicated, as facilitated by forwarding logic1405, from RTU 1330 to RSC 1453 for compression, as facilitated bycompression logic 1407, where the resulting compressed rays are thencompiled into a compressed representation which is then forwarded on toand stored at memory 1308. With regard to decompression, in oneembodiment, the compressed representation is communicated on to RSD 1451where decompression of the compressed rays is performed and anyresulting decompressed rays 1461 are forwarded on to RTU 1330.

As previously discussed, FIG. 15 illustrates rays 1533 originating fromorigin 1531 and reflecting off of surfaces 1547A, 1547B, 1547B accordingto one embodiment. For brevity, many of the details previously discussedwith reference to FIGS. 1-15A may not be discussed or repeatedhereafter. In the illustrated embodiment, the reflected rays includereflection ray 1541 (of high quality seeking high accuracy), glossyreflection rays 1543 (of medium quality seeking medium accuracy), anddiffuse rays 1545 (of low quality seeking low accuracy).

FIG. 16 illustrates a method 1600 for facilitating ray compressionaccording to one embodiment. Method 1600 may be performed by processinglogic that may comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic,programmable logic, etc.), software (such as instructions run on aprocessing device), or a combination thereof, as facilitated bycompression mechanism 1310 of FIG. 13. The processes of method 1600 areillustrated in linear sequences for brevity and clarity in presentation;however, it is contemplated that any number of them can be performed inparallel, asynchronously, or in different orders. For brevity, many ofthe details discussed with reference to the preceding figures may not bediscussed or repeated hereafter.

Method 1600 begins at processing block 1601 with detecting of any numberand type of rays originating from any number and type of origins andheading in any number and type of directions. At block 1603, the raysare sorted to extract coherency. As described previously, sorting of therays may be performed in any number of processes, such as binning basedon 1) ray types, 2) BRDF or surface types, 3) ray direction indices, 4)ray origins, and 5) any combination thereof. At block 1605, the sortedrays may be forwarded onto a ray compression unit for compressionpurposes. In one embodiment, as aforementioned, a predetermined numberof rays may be fed into the RCU or, in another embodiment, rays may beforwarded onto to the RCU one-by-one or in any other combination ornumber of rays.

At block 1607, in one embodiment, at RCU, as facilitated by compressionlogic 1407 of FIG. 14A, the rays are compressed into a compressedrepresentation having any number and type of compressed rays. In oneembodiment, there may be a target storage budget in terms of a number ofbytes, such as S bytes, for achieving the compressed representationwithout violating or exceeding the target budget. For example, if thetarget budget is reached or exceeded, any number of rays, such as Nrays, may be removed from the compressed representation until the budgetis met. Further, for example, if the target budget is not yet achievedor there remain some space, the rays may be kept on streaming, such asone ray at a time, until there are number of rays in the compressedrepresentation to meet the target budget, such as S bytes. At block1609, the compressed representation or form of the compressed rays maybe stored in memory or transferred or forwarded on to other storagedevices for storage or onto processing devices for processing, such asto a GPU for graphics data processing.

References to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “example embodiment”,“various embodiments”, etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) sodescribed may include particular features, structures, orcharacteristics, but not every embodiment necessarily includes theparticular features, structures, or characteristics. Further, someembodiments may have some, all, or none of the features described forother embodiments.

In the foregoing specification, embodiments have been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made theretowithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of embodiments asset forth in the appended claims. The Specification and drawings are,accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictivesense.

In the following description and claims, the term “coupled” along withits derivatives, may be used. “Coupled” is used to indicate that two ormore elements co-operate or interact with each other, but they may ormay not have intervening physical or electrical components between them.

As used in the claims, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinaladjectives “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., to describe a commonelement, merely indicate that different instances of like elements arebeing referred to, and are not intended to imply that the elements sodescribed must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, inranking, or in any other manner.

The following clauses and/or examples pertain to further embodiments orexamples. Specifics in the examples may be used anywhere in one or moreembodiments. The various features of the different embodiments orexamples may be variously combined with some features included andothers excluded to suit a variety of different applications. Examplesmay include subject matter such as a method, means for performing actsof the method, at least one machine-readable medium includinginstructions that, when performed by a machine cause the machine toperforms acts of the method, or of an apparatus or system forfacilitating hybrid communication according to embodiments and examplesdescribed herein.

Some embodiments pertain to Example 1 that includes an apparatus tofacilitate ray compression for efficient graphics data processing atcomputing devices, comprising: forwarding logic to forward a set of raysto a ray compression unit hosted by a graphics processor at theapparatus; and compression logic to facilitate the ray compression unitto compress the set of rays, wherein the set of rays are compressed intoa compressed representation.

Example 2 includes the subject matter of Example 1, further comprising:detection/reception logic to detect the set of rays initiating from oneor more ray origins and terminating at one or more ray directions,wherein the set of rays represents a stream of rays.

Example 3 includes the subject matter of Example 1, further comprising:sorting logic to sort the set of rays to extract coherency relating toeach ray of the set of rays, wherein the set of rays are sorted based onone or more characteristics relating to the set of rays, wherein the oneor more characteristics include at least one of the one or more rayorigins, the one or more ray directions, one or more ray types, or oneor more bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) typesthat are hit by the set of rays.

Example 4 includes the subject matter of Example 3, wherein the one ormore ray types of the one or more rays of the set of rays are determinedbased on the one or more reflection directions.

Example 5 includes the subject matter of Example 3 or 4, wherein the oneor more ray types comprise at least one of high quality, medium quality,or low quality.

Example 6 includes the subject matter of Example 3, wherein the sortinglogic is further to associate a high accuracy level to a high qualityray of the one or more rays, a medium accuracy level to a medium qualityray of the one or more rays, and a low accuracy level to a low qualityray of the one or more rays, wherein one or more accuracy bits areassociated with a ray of the one or more rays based on an accuracy levelassociated with the ray.

Example 7 includes the subject matter of Example 1, further comprising:budget evaluation logic to determine a compression budget, wherein thecompression budget includes a set of bytes associated with compressionof the set of rays, wherein the budget evaluation logic to select anumber of rays of the set of rays for compression by the ray compressionunit such that the compression budget is satisfied, wherein the numberof rays is increased or decreased by adding to or removing from thenumber of rays; and storage/transferring logic to store the compressedrepresentation at a local memory or transfer the compressedrepresentation to a remote storage device for storing or a processingcomponents for additional processing, wherein the compressedrepresentation is stored in memory, and wherein uncompressed rays areforwarded on to the ray compression unit.

Example 8 includes the subject matter of Example 1, wherein thecompression logic is further to facilitate compression of one or more ofthe one or more ray origins and the one or more ray directions, whereinthe compression logic is further to facilitate exploitation of the oneor more accuracy bits to obtain lower or higher qualities of compressionwhen appropriate, wherein the compression logic is further to facilitatecompression of indices for the one or more ray directions and less datafor one or more ray destinations, wherein the compression logic tocompute a reference index for each of the one or more ray directions andsubsequently, code a next ray direction relative to a previous raydirection or the reference index.

Some embodiments pertain to Example 9 that includes a method for raycompression for efficient graphics data processing at computing devices,comprising: forwarding a set of rays to a ray compression unit hosted bya graphics processor at a computing device; and facilitating the raycompression unit to compress the set of rays, wherein the set of raysare compressed into a compressed representation.

Example 10 includes the subject matter of Example 9, further comprising:detecting the set of rays initiating from one or more ray origins andterminating at one or more ray directions, wherein the set of raysrepresents a stream of rays.

Example 11 includes the subject matter of Example 9, further comprising:sorting the set of rays to extract coherency relating to each ray of theset of rays, wherein the set of rays are sorted based on one or morecharacteristics relating to the set of rays, wherein the one or morecharacteristics include at least one of the one or more ray origins, theone or more ray directions, one or more ray types, or one or morebidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) types that arehit by the set of rays.

Example 12 includes the subject matter of Example 11, wherein the one ormore ray types of the one or more rays of the set of rays are determinedbased on the one or more reflection directions.

Example 13 includes the subject matter of Example 11 or 12, wherein theone or more ray types comprise at least one of high quality, mediumquality, or low quality.

Example 14 includes the subject matter of Example 11, wherein sortingcomprises associating a high accuracy level to a high quality ray of theone or more rays, a medium accuracy level to a medium quality ray of theone or more rays, and a low accuracy level to a low quality ray of theone or more rays, wherein one or more accuracy bits are associated witha ray of the one or more rays based on an accuracy level associated withthe ray.

Example 15 includes the subject matter of Example 9, further comprising:determining a compression budget, wherein the compression budgetincludes a set of bytes associated with compression of the set of rays;selecting a number of rays of the set of rays for compression by the raycompression unit such that the compression budget is satisfied, whereinthe number of rays is increased or decreased by adding to or removingfrom the number of rays; and storing the compressed representation at alocal memory or transfer the compressed representation to a remotestorage device for storing or a processing components for additionalprocessing, wherein the compressed representation is stored in memory,and wherein uncompressed rays are forwarded on to the ray compressionunit.

Example 16 includes the subject matter of Example 9, further comprising:facilitating compression of one or more of the one or more ray originsand the one or more ray directions; facilitating exploitation of the oneor more accuracy bits to obtain lower or higher qualities of compressionwhen appropriate; facilitating compression of indices for the one ormore ray directions and less data for one or more ray destinations; andcomputing a reference index for each of the one or more ray directionsand subsequently, coding a next ray direction relative to a previous raydirection or the reference index.

Some embodiments pertain to Example 17 includes a system comprising astorage device having instructions, and a processor to execute theinstructions to perform or facilitate a mechanism to perform one or moreoperations comprising: forwarding a set of rays to a ray compressionunit hosted by a graphics processor at a computing device; andfacilitating the ray compression unit to compress the set of rays,wherein the set of rays are compressed into a compressed representation.

Example 18 includes the subject matter of Example 17, wherein the one ormore operations comprise: detecting the set of rays initiating from oneor more ray origins and terminating at one or more ray directions,wherein the set of rays represents a stream of rays.

Example 19 includes the subject matter of Example 17, wherein the one ormore operations comprise: sorting the set of rays to extract coherencyrelating to each ray of the set of rays, wherein the set of rays aresorted based on one or more characteristics relating to the set of rays,wherein the one or more characteristics include at least one of the oneor more ray origins, the one or more ray directions, one or more raytypes, or one or more bidirectional reflectance distribution function(BRDF) types that are hit by the set of rays.

Example 20 includes the subject matter of Example 19, wherein the one ormore ray types of the one or more rays of the set of rays are determinedbased on the one or more reflection directions.

Example 21 includes the subject matter of Example 19 or 20, wherein theone or more ray types comprise at least one of high quality, mediumquality, or low quality.

Example 22 includes the subject matter of Example 19, wherein sortingcomprises associating a high accuracy level to a high quality ray of theone or more rays, a medium accuracy level to a medium quality ray of theone or more rays, and a low accuracy level to a low quality ray of theone or more rays, wherein one or more accuracy bits are associated witha ray of the one or more rays based on an accuracy level associated withthe ray.

Example 23 includes the subject matter of Example 17, wherein the one ormore operations comprise: determining a compression budget, wherein thecompression budget includes a set of bytes associated with compressionof the set of rays; selecting a number of rays of the set of rays forcompression by the ray compression unit such that the compression budgetis satisfied, wherein the number of rays is increased or decreased byadding to or removing from the number of rays; and storing thecompressed representation at a local memory or transfer the compressedrepresentation to a remote storage device for storing or a processingcomponents for additional processing, wherein the compressedrepresentation is stored in memory, and wherein uncompressed rays areforwarded on to the ray compression unit.

Example 24 includes the subject matter of Example 17, wherein the one ormore operations comprise: facilitating compression of one or more of theone or more ray origins and the one or more ray directions; facilitatingexploitation of the one or more accuracy bits to obtain lower or higherqualities of compression when appropriate; facilitating compression ofindices for the one or more ray directions and less data for one or moreray destinations; and computing a reference index for each of the one ormore ray directions and subsequently, coding a next ray directionrelative to a previous ray direction or the reference index.

Some embodiments pertain to Example 25 includes an apparatus comprising:means for forwarding a set of rays to a ray compression unit hosted by agraphics processor at a computing device; and means for facilitating theray compression unit to compress the set of rays, wherein the set ofrays are compressed into a compressed representation.

Example 26 includes the subject matter of Example 25, furthercomprising: means for detecting the set of rays initiating from one ormore ray origins and terminating at one or more ray directions, whereinthe set of rays represents a stream of rays.

Example 27 includes the subject matter of Example 25, furthercomprising: means for sorting the set of rays to extract coherencyrelating to each ray of the set of rays, wherein the set of rays aresorted based on one or more characteristics relating to the set of rays,wherein the one or more characteristics include at least one of the oneor more ray origins, the one or more ray directions, one or more raytypes, or one or more bidirectional reflectance distribution function(BRDF) types that are hit by the set of rays.

Example 28 includes the subject matter of Example 27, wherein the one ormore ray types of the one or more rays of the set of rays are determinedbased on the one or more reflection directions.

Example 29 includes the subject matter of Example 27 or 28, wherein theone or more ray types comprise at least one of high quality, mediumquality, or low quality.

Example 30 includes the subject matter of Example 27, wherein the meansfor sorting comprises means for associating a high accuracy level to ahigh quality ray of the one or more rays, a medium accuracy level to amedium quality ray of the one or more rays, and a low accuracy level toa low quality ray of the one or more rays, wherein one or more accuracybits are associated with a ray of the one or more rays based on anaccuracy level associated with the ray.

Example 31 includes the subject matter of Example 25, furthercomprising: means for determining a compression budget, wherein thecompression budget includes a set of bytes associated with compressionof the set of rays; means for selecting a number of rays of the set ofrays for compression by the ray compression unit such that thecompression budget is satisfied, wherein the number of rays is increasedor decreased by adding to or removing from the number of rays; and meansfor storing the compressed representation at a local memory or transferthe compressed representation to a remote storage device for storing ora processing components for additional processing, wherein thecompressed representation is stored in memory, and wherein uncompressedrays are forwarded on to the ray compression unit.

Example 32 includes the subject matter of Example 25, furthercomprising: means for facilitating compression of one or more of the oneor more ray origins and the one or more ray directions; means forfacilitating exploitation of the one or more accuracy bits to obtainlower or higher qualities of compression when appropriate; means forfacilitating compression of indices for the one or more ray directionsand less data for one or more ray destinations; and means for computinga reference index for each of the one or more ray directions andsubsequently, coding a next ray direction relative to a previous raydirection or the reference index.

Example 33 includes at least one non-transitory or tangiblemachine-readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions, whenexecuted on a computing device, to implement or perform a method asclaimed in any of claims or examples 9-16.

Example 34 includes at least one machine-readable medium comprising aplurality of instructions, when executed on a computing device, toimplement or perform a method as claimed in any of claims or examples9-16.

Example 35 includes a system comprising a mechanism to implement orperform a method as claimed in any of claims or examples 9-16.

Example 36 includes an apparatus comprising means for performing amethod as claimed in any of claims or examples 9-16.

Example 37 includes a computing device arranged to implement or performa method as claimed in any of claims or examples 9-16.

Example 38 includes a communications device arranged to implement orperform a method as claimed in any of claims or examples 9-16.

Example 39 includes at least one machine-readable medium comprising aplurality of instructions, when executed on a computing device, toimplement or perform a method or realize an apparatus as claimed in anypreceding claims.

Example 40 includes at least one non-transitory or tangiblemachine-readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions, whenexecuted on a computing device, to implement or perform a method orrealize an apparatus as claimed in any preceding claims.

Example 41 includes a system comprising a mechanism to implement orperform a method or realize an apparatus as claimed in any precedingclaims.

Example 42 includes an apparatus comprising means to perform a method asclaimed in any preceding claims.

Example 43 includes a computing device arranged to implement or performa method or realize an apparatus as claimed in any preceding claims.

Example 44 includes a communications device arranged to implement orperform a method or realize an apparatus as claimed in any precedingclaims.

The drawings and the forgoing description give examples of embodiments.Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of thedescribed elements may well be combined into a single functionalelement. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiplefunctional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added toanother embodiment. For example, orders of processes described hereinmay be changed and are not limited to the manner described herein.Moreover, the actions of any flow diagram need not be implemented in theorder shown; nor do all of the acts necessarily need to be performed.Also, those acts that are not dependent on other acts may be performedin parallel with the other acts. The scope of embodiments is by no meanslimited by these specific examples. Numerous variations, whetherexplicitly given in the specification or not, such as differences instructure, dimension, and use of material, are possible. The scope ofembodiments is at least as broad as given by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: forwarding logic toforward a set of rays to a ray compression unit hosted by a graphicsprocessor at the apparatus; and compression logic to facilitate the raycompression unit to compress the set of rays, wherein the set of raysare compressed into a compressed representation.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising: detection/reception logic to detect the setof rays initiating from one or more ray origins and terminating at oneor more ray directions, wherein the set of rays represents a stream ofrays.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: sorting logic tosort the set of rays to extract coherency relating to each ray of theset of rays, wherein the set of rays are sorted based on one or morecharacteristics relating to the set of rays, wherein the one or morecharacteristics include at least one of the one or more ray origins, theone or more ray directions, one or more ray types, or one or morebidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) types that arehit by the set of rays.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the one ormore ray types of the one or more rays of the set of rays are determinedbased on the one or more reflection directions.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 4, wherein the one or more ray types comprise at least one of highquality, medium quality, or low quality.
 6. The apparatus of claim 3,wherein the sorting logic is further to associate a high accuracy levelto a high quality ray of the one or more rays, a medium accuracy levelto a medium quality ray of the one or more rays, and a low accuracylevel to a low quality ray of the one or more rays, wherein one or moreaccuracy bits are associated with a ray of the one or more rays based onan accuracy level associated with the ray.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1,further comprising: budget evaluation logic to determine a compressionbudget, wherein the compression budget includes a set of bytesassociated with compression of the set of rays, wherein the budgetevaluation logic to select a number of rays of the set of rays forcompression by the ray compression unit such that the compression budgetis satisfied, wherein the number of rays is increased or decreased byadding to or removing from the number of rays; and storage/transferringlogic to store the compressed representation at a local memory ortransfer the compressed representation to a remote storage device forstoring or a processing components for additional processing, whereinthe compressed representation is stored in memory, and whereinuncompressed rays are forwarded on to the ray compression unit.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the compression logic is further tofacilitate compression of one or more of the one or more ray origins andthe one or more ray directions, wherein the compression logic is furtherto facilitate exploitation of the one or more accuracy bits to obtainlower or higher qualities of compression when appropriate, wherein thecompression logic is further to facilitate compression of indices forthe one or more ray directions and less data for one or more raydestinations, wherein the compression logic to compute a reference indexfor each of the one or more ray directions and subsequently, code a nextray direction relative to a previous ray direction or the referenceindex.
 9. A method comprising: forwarding a set of rays to a raycompression unit hosted by a graphics processor at a computing device;and facilitating the ray compression unit to compress the set of rays,wherein the set of rays are compressed into a compressed representation.10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: detecting the set of raysinitiating from one or more ray origins and terminating at one or moreray directions, wherein the set of rays represents a stream of rays. 11.The method of claim 9, further comprising: sorting the set of rays toextract coherency relating to each ray of the set of rays, wherein theset of rays are sorted based on one or more characteristics relating tothe set of rays, wherein the one or more characteristics include atleast one of the one or more ray origins, the one or more raydirections, one or more ray types, or one or more bidirectionalreflectance distribution function (BRDF) types that are hit by the setof rays.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more ray typesof the one or more rays of the set of rays are determined based on theone or more reflection directions.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinthe one or more ray types comprise at least one of high quality, mediumquality, or low quality.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein sortingcomprises associating a high accuracy level to a high quality ray of theone or more rays, a medium accuracy level to a medium quality ray of theone or more rays, and a low accuracy level to a low quality ray of theone or more rays, wherein one or more accuracy bits are associated witha ray of the one or more rays based on an accuracy level associated withthe ray.
 15. The method of claim 9, further comprising: determining acompression budget, wherein the compression budget includes a set ofbytes associated with compression of the set of rays; selecting a numberof rays of the set of rays for compression by the ray compression unitsuch that the compression budget is satisfied, wherein the number ofrays is increased or decreased by adding to or removing from the numberof rays; and storing the compressed representation at a local memory ortransfer the compressed representation to a remote storage device forstoring or a processing components for additional processing, whereinthe compressed representation is stored in memory, and whereinuncompressed rays are forwarded on to the ray compression unit.
 16. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: facilitating compression of oneor more of the one or more ray origins and the one or more raydirections; facilitating exploitation of the one or more accuracy bitsto obtain lower or higher qualities of compression when appropriate;facilitating compression of indices for the one or more ray directionsand less data for one or more ray destinations; and computing areference index for each of the one or more ray directions andsubsequently, coding a next ray direction relative to a previous raydirection or the reference index.
 17. At least one machine-readablestorage medium comprising a plurality of instructions, executed on acomputing device, to facilitate the computing device to performoperations comprising: forwarding a set of rays to a ray compressionunit hosted by a graphics processor at a computing device; andfacilitating the ray compression unit to compress the set of rays,wherein the set of rays are compressed into a compressed representation.18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising:detecting the set of rays initiating from one or more ray origins andterminating at one or more ray directions, wherein the set of raysrepresents a stream of rays.
 19. The machine-readable storage medium ofclaim 17, further comprising: sorting the set of rays to extractcoherency relating to each ray of the set of rays, wherein the set ofrays are sorted based on one or more characteristics relating to the setof rays, wherein the one or more characteristics include at least one ofthe one or more ray origins, the one or more ray directions, one or moreray types, or one or more bidirectional reflectance distributionfunction (BRDF) types that are hit by the set of rays.
 20. Themachine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the one or more raytypes of the one or more rays of the set of rays are determined based onthe one or more reflection directions.